By Alan Halberstadt
http://www.alanhalberstadt.com/
It’s official. Cogeco Cable will not be televising live Monday’s critical City Council strategic planning meeting at the WFCU Centre unless it is staged on the ice in the main bowl.
Rob Scussolin, manager of TV coverage for Cogeco, made that joke while ruminating on the problems experienced by the station in covering Council meetings outside Council Chambers.
Cogeco’s fibre feed at the WFCU is set up for Spitfire hockey games and it is buried under the area that houses the Zamboni machines. Scussolin tells me the possibility of Cogeco filming the meeting and running it on a delayed basis is very remote as well given the late notice from the city on the change in venue.
The Cogeco truck would need to be set up outside the front of the building, and the lighting and microphone systems would need to be compatible in the Michigan Room, on the second floor above one of the community rinks, where Council will meet.
In my view the lack of consideration for Cable TV is a major oversight. Mayor Eddie Francis was quoted in today’s Windsor Star that Council will be in a position to announce three key transitional projects for downtown within two weeks, including a major family-based attraction, museum and downtown marina.
It is obvious that these matters will be the sole focus of Monday’s meeting, although it has no agenda.
I presume the mayor has lined up the Council votes he needs to speed forward with these initiatives without so much as a Council report on feasibility and financing, both capital and operational.
While other media will be there, this is hardly fair to average Windsor citizens who religiously watch Council meetings. Scussolin describes the telecasts as “extremely popular.”
In May, Council will officially reduce its regular meetings to two per month. On the off weeks, six standing committees comprised solely of Councillors will meet alternatively.
The Cogeco people will huddle with the deputy city clerk in April to discuss arrangements to televise those lesser meetings. Scussolin says Cogeco will not be prepared to go to the trouble of setting up for rubber stamp meetings that might last only 30 minutes.
“If they are substantial meetings, yes we are interested,” he says.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Windsor City Council - Democracy Deficit Amidst Mega Projects
By Alan Halberstadt
http://www.alanhalberstadt.com/
I am starting to regret my support for the resolution to reduce the number of Windsor City Council meetings to two per month. There now appears to be an even further retreat from wide public scrutiny and visibility.
Mayor Eddie Francis has cancelled the March 21st regularly scheduled meeting in Council Chambers at City Hall in favour of another strategic planning meeting, this one at the WFCU Centre. There was no regular meeting this week, due to Spring Break, so Council watchers will be experiencing only two meetings this month, March 7 and 28.
And we have yet to hit May, when the every-two-week cycle is set to begin.
As of Tuesday morning, Face-to-Face host John Fairley informed me that Cogeco Cable had yet to be informed by the city that the venue and the nature of the March 21 meeting had changed. In checking with the general manager of Cogeco, the news came back to John that Cogeco would not be covering the proceedings at the WFCU Centre.
The City Clerk's office subsequently informed me that Cogeco, along with all other media, was sent a fax last Friday advising of the change. The GM obviously didn't see it. And Tuesday, the deputy clerk called Cliff Danby, a guy involved with the Council telecast, to fill in some more details.
Hopefully, Cogeco will be able to set up its equipment in the second floor Michigan Room on Monday, but all of this begs the question -- why couldn't the strat planning session be held in Council Chambers? I trust it's not because a light dinner will be served to Councillors and staff at the WFCU, and policy doesn't allow us to have meals at City Hall.
Another concern is that there is no agenda for the strat planning meeting. Of course, anyone who has not just fallen off the turnip truck knows full well what it is all about.
Mayor Francis, through his media messengers, has told Council that he will be talking about “legacy projects,” specifically a transient marina and aquatics complex, both costing mega millions.
Windsor Star columnist Gord Henderson tells us that "sources" told him that the mayor recently broke bread with Windsors’ own Provincial Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, and Duncan told him to hurry up and get the blueprints for these mega projects together so that he and Sandra Pupatello can hurl pork-barrel money at them before the provincial election in October.
More along these lines in this space later this week.
http://www.alanhalberstadt.com/
I am starting to regret my support for the resolution to reduce the number of Windsor City Council meetings to two per month. There now appears to be an even further retreat from wide public scrutiny and visibility.
Mayor Eddie Francis has cancelled the March 21st regularly scheduled meeting in Council Chambers at City Hall in favour of another strategic planning meeting, this one at the WFCU Centre. There was no regular meeting this week, due to Spring Break, so Council watchers will be experiencing only two meetings this month, March 7 and 28.
And we have yet to hit May, when the every-two-week cycle is set to begin.
As of Tuesday morning, Face-to-Face host John Fairley informed me that Cogeco Cable had yet to be informed by the city that the venue and the nature of the March 21 meeting had changed. In checking with the general manager of Cogeco, the news came back to John that Cogeco would not be covering the proceedings at the WFCU Centre.
The City Clerk's office subsequently informed me that Cogeco, along with all other media, was sent a fax last Friday advising of the change. The GM obviously didn't see it. And Tuesday, the deputy clerk called Cliff Danby, a guy involved with the Council telecast, to fill in some more details.
Hopefully, Cogeco will be able to set up its equipment in the second floor Michigan Room on Monday, but all of this begs the question -- why couldn't the strat planning session be held in Council Chambers? I trust it's not because a light dinner will be served to Councillors and staff at the WFCU, and policy doesn't allow us to have meals at City Hall.
Another concern is that there is no agenda for the strat planning meeting. Of course, anyone who has not just fallen off the turnip truck knows full well what it is all about.
Mayor Francis, through his media messengers, has told Council that he will be talking about “legacy projects,” specifically a transient marina and aquatics complex, both costing mega millions.
Windsor Star columnist Gord Henderson tells us that "sources" told him that the mayor recently broke bread with Windsors’ own Provincial Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, and Duncan told him to hurry up and get the blueprints for these mega projects together so that he and Sandra Pupatello can hurl pork-barrel money at them before the provincial election in October.
More along these lines in this space later this week.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
WIndsor City Council - Volunteer Committee Shakedown
City Council is proposing to reduce the number of meetings to a maximum of four per year for what is termed advisory committees. Committees such as the Seniors Committee, the Mayor's Youth Committee, the Small Business Panel and the Windsor Bicycling Committee (WBC) have been surprised to learn of this turn of events, expressing fears that this action will trigger the eventual redundancy of their advocacy and volunteer work in the community. Attached is a letter from the Bicycling Committee addressing its concerns.
Dear Mr. Mayor and Members of City Council.
The WBC has recently become aware of the possibility that advisory committees like ours will have our meetings cut back from monthly to quarterly. We are concerned that the implementation of this will make us ineffective; where our ability to influence city council, make recommendations, conduct research and most importantly, advance issues that affect cyclists, motorists and pedestrians, will be severely impacted in a negative manner.
The WBC also understands the recommendation calls for a more limited work load for advisory committees, specifically, event planning. It is our goal to promote cycling as a healthy, safe and fun activity for the residents of our fine city. We do this, in part, by organizing public events that promote cycling (for example, the Bike The Bridge event and Bike To Work Week). We work with Windsor's not-for-profit organizations, giving support for their events (like the Health Units Rediscover Your Bike). These events also highlight the city’s livable and natural spaces (like our parks and trail systems), they also educate residents on safe cycling practices, and they remind residents of the many opportunities Windsor provides for healthy, active recreation.
In addition to promoting the city to its residents, the WBC also collaborates with other organizations that strive to increase tourism in our area. Last year’s inaugural Bike Train visits saw many out-of-towners come to the city and use the riverfront trail and our bike lanes, and visitor reactions to our facilities were positive and encouraging. Without regular, timely meetings, events like these could not take place.
The strangling of Windsor’s advisory committees will affect more than the city’s budget. Decreasing the number of meetings per year may cause volunteers to feel their efforts are not needed or appreciated, and the WBC fears this perceived apathy will cause many volunteers to quit. The city has resources that can be tapped in each of the volunteers sitting on the various advisory committees. The loss of these dedicated individuals would be a great detriment to the city, especially since they provide a vital service at almost no cost.
We ask that, before any decisions are made regarding this recommendation, all committees are given the chance to understand why the city believes it is necessary. We ask that all committees have input into this matter so that our effectiveness isn’t compromised, and so that we can work together to determine the best path forward for all of Windsor’s advisory committees.
Thank You,
On behalf of the members of the WBC
Mark Lindquist
Chair
Dear Mr. Mayor and Members of City Council.
The WBC has recently become aware of the possibility that advisory committees like ours will have our meetings cut back from monthly to quarterly. We are concerned that the implementation of this will make us ineffective; where our ability to influence city council, make recommendations, conduct research and most importantly, advance issues that affect cyclists, motorists and pedestrians, will be severely impacted in a negative manner.
The WBC also understands the recommendation calls for a more limited work load for advisory committees, specifically, event planning. It is our goal to promote cycling as a healthy, safe and fun activity for the residents of our fine city. We do this, in part, by organizing public events that promote cycling (for example, the Bike The Bridge event and Bike To Work Week). We work with Windsor's not-for-profit organizations, giving support for their events (like the Health Units Rediscover Your Bike). These events also highlight the city’s livable and natural spaces (like our parks and trail systems), they also educate residents on safe cycling practices, and they remind residents of the many opportunities Windsor provides for healthy, active recreation.
In addition to promoting the city to its residents, the WBC also collaborates with other organizations that strive to increase tourism in our area. Last year’s inaugural Bike Train visits saw many out-of-towners come to the city and use the riverfront trail and our bike lanes, and visitor reactions to our facilities were positive and encouraging. Without regular, timely meetings, events like these could not take place.
The strangling of Windsor’s advisory committees will affect more than the city’s budget. Decreasing the number of meetings per year may cause volunteers to feel their efforts are not needed or appreciated, and the WBC fears this perceived apathy will cause many volunteers to quit. The city has resources that can be tapped in each of the volunteers sitting on the various advisory committees. The loss of these dedicated individuals would be a great detriment to the city, especially since they provide a vital service at almost no cost.
We ask that, before any decisions are made regarding this recommendation, all committees are given the chance to understand why the city believes it is necessary. We ask that all committees have input into this matter so that our effectiveness isn’t compromised, and so that we can work together to determine the best path forward for all of Windsor’s advisory committees.
Thank You,
On behalf of the members of the WBC
Mark Lindquist
Chair
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
City of WIndsor Audit Committee -- Max Hangs Around
By Alan Halberstadt
http://www.alanhalberstadt.com/
On January 17th, at the end of a long strategic planning session at Hiram Walker, City Council effectively voted to remove Chair Max Zalev, Geroge Sandala and myself from the audit committee. Counc. Bill Marra said he didn't believe Councillors or employees of agencies such as EnWin Utilities ( Zalev) and Windsor Utilities Commission (Sandala) should be on the committee. Mayor Francis wholeheartedly agreed.
Last night, the last day of February, after an elongated in camera meeting attended by lame duck audit chair Zalev, Mayor Francis made a proposal, passed by Council, to hire an auditor general and have the mayor develop a plan on how to properly resource the function. Part of the proposal was to have EnWin President Max Zalev, the mayor's captain at the Hydro Utility, develop the audit "resource" plan with him.
It poses the question: If Mayor Francis thought a month and a half ago that Zalev should be removed from the audit committee because of a real or perceived conflict, how can he now be the guy who is helping him shape the committee's future? Stay tuned for the Francis-Zalev plan on accountability, transparency and audit independence at City Hall.
http://www.alanhalberstadt.com/
On January 17th, at the end of a long strategic planning session at Hiram Walker, City Council effectively voted to remove Chair Max Zalev, Geroge Sandala and myself from the audit committee. Counc. Bill Marra said he didn't believe Councillors or employees of agencies such as EnWin Utilities ( Zalev) and Windsor Utilities Commission (Sandala) should be on the committee. Mayor Francis wholeheartedly agreed.
Last night, the last day of February, after an elongated in camera meeting attended by lame duck audit chair Zalev, Mayor Francis made a proposal, passed by Council, to hire an auditor general and have the mayor develop a plan on how to properly resource the function. Part of the proposal was to have EnWin President Max Zalev, the mayor's captain at the Hydro Utility, develop the audit "resource" plan with him.
It poses the question: If Mayor Francis thought a month and a half ago that Zalev should be removed from the audit committee because of a real or perceived conflict, how can he now be the guy who is helping him shape the committee's future? Stay tuned for the Francis-Zalev plan on accountability, transparency and audit independence at City Hall.
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